Accepted Manuscript Middle Paleolithic Occupation of the Moroccan Sahara: Open Air Sites of the Tafilalt Marta Arzarello, Larbi Boudad, Stéfanie Guislain PII:
S1040-6182(13)00044-X
DOI:
10.1016/j.quaint.2013.01.020
Reference:
JQI 3637
To appear in:
Quaternary International
Please cite this article as: Arzarello, M., Boudad, L., Guislain, S., Middle Paleolithic Occupation of the Moroccan Sahara: Open Air Sites of the Tafilalt, Quaternary International (2013), doi: 10.1016/ j.quaint.2013.01.020. This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain.
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Middle Paleolithic Occupation of the Moroccan Sahara: Open Air Sites of the Tafilalt
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Marta Arzarello (1), Larbi Boudad (2), Stéfanie Guislain (3)
(1)Laboratorio TekneHub, Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici, Università degli Studi di Ferrara, C.so Ercole I d’Este 32, 44121 Ferrara (Italy);
[email protected]
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(2) Faculté des Sciences et Techniques, Université Moulay Ismail –Boutalamine, Errachidia B.P. 509 (Morocco).
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(3) Lycée Victor Hugo Marrakech, Route de la Targa, Marrakech - BP 2406 (Morocco).
Abstract
The Tafilalt region and the Drâa Valley (Moroccan Sahara) have been prospected since 2006 by
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an Italian-Moroccan team with the aims of identifying and describing important prehistoric sites dating from the Acheulean to the Iberomaurisian. Although the lithic industries were found in surface contexts, the total absence of data for the region means that the data obtained are an
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important contribution to a better definition of the prehistoric occupation in the Tafilalt region. The purpose of this paper is to highlight, where possible, the similarities / differences between
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the different Middle Paleolithic complexes as well as to identify productive strategies adopted, also in terms of raw materials exploitation. The Middle Paleolithic sites of the Tafilalt are characterized by a differential utilization of raw material (in terms of the morphometry of the exploited pebbles/outcrops and physical characteristics of raw materials), by a coexistence of different reduction sequences, and by an opportunistic behavior. All sites, including those in which Aterian elements were identified, are
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characterized by the presence of Levallois, discoid and opportunistic (cf. S.S.D.A.) methods. In the sites where the tanged pieces are attested, the laminar method seems to acquire greater significance. It is important to emphasise that the substrate of the production is homogeneous in
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all sites, indicating an entrenched technological continuity during the Middle Palaeolithic of the region. All sites were sampled in a systematic way in order to maximize knowledge on the technical behavior that characterized the Middle Paleolithic in South-East Morocco.
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Keywords: South-east Morocco, Middle Paleolithic, open-air sites, techno-economical
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approach.
1. Introduction
Survey activity in the Tafilalt region and in the Drâa valley (Sahara desert, South-East Morocco) started in 2006 as a collaboration between the Faculté des Sciences of the Université Moulay
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Ismail in Errakidia (Morocco) and the University of Ferrara (Italy). The aim of the project was to cast light on the distribution of prehistoric archaeological localities and to improve definitions of the Middle and Lower Paleolithic of the area.
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While problematic and often overshadowed by the scientific community (Balout, 1967), the study of surface deposits in desert environments, which are more numerous than those found in
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stratigraphic contexts, can provide interesting information, as long as factors that could limit and distort the interpretation of results are taken into account (e.g. Anthony, 1954; Wengler, 1986; Aumassip, 1992; Guislain, 2000). The approach utilized has obvious limitations as the identified sites are open-air sites without any conserved stratigraphical sequence, nor any faunal remains. Nevertheless, the apparent homogeneity of the lithic assemblages allowed us to obtain important information about the technical behavior adopted during the Middle Paleolithic in the region.
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During the years 2006-2011, five main surveys were organized and fifteen major sites (fig.1) were discovered and studied with a techno-economical approach. At each site, the lithic materials were systematically collected from the surface over an area of 6 m2 (as permitted by
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the local authorities), but a general analysis of the materials present in the whole area of highest concentration of lithic materials was also conducted in situ. The lithic material is present only on the surface and is completely absent within the sediments.
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The chronology of the Tafilalt and Drâa Valley prehistoric occupation is not supported by direct datations because of the lack of a stratigraphic sequence or datable materials. However, the typo-
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technological characteristics allow the attribution of most of the sites of the Tafilalt to the Middle Paleolithic (including the Aterian) (Tab. 1) and most of the Drâa Valley sites to the late Acheulean, although also associated with Levallois reduction (Arzarello et al., 2012). We consider here Middle Paleolithic, or Middle Stone Age, sites as the ones that are characterized
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by the absence of handaxes and feature the common presence of the Levallois method (Garcea, 2004; et al., 2012) and Aterian as the Middle Paleolithic sites with the presence of tanged pieces
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(Mercier et al., 2007; Nami and Moser, 2010; Linstäder et al., 2012).
2. Geological Settings and the Prehistoric Occupation of the Tafilalt
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The Tafilalt plain is located in southeast Morocco, in the domaine anti-atalsique. Strictly speaking, the name refers to the palm groves surrounding the cities of Rissani and Efroud, but this designation is currently being extended to the entire alluvial plain formed by the valleys of Ziz and Rhéris wadis (fig. 2). The geological and geomorphological characteristics of the Tafilalt region are closely linked to those of southeast Morocco and to the major tectonic axis of the “accident sud-atlasique”
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(Boudad, 2004; Boudad et al., 2003a; 2003b; 2003c). In the north, the Haut-Atlas region is characterized by a marine sedimentation interrupted between the beginning of the Lower Jurassic
distorted the landscape, forming a shell of very high fault-folds.
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and the Middle Jurassic. During the Mesozoic and especially during the Cenozoic, tectonics
In the south, the anti-atlasique domain was covered by sea and was subsequently subjected to orogenic movements during the Pre-Cambrian and the Paleozoic. The Hercynian movements
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created relief, largely leveled at the end of the Palaeozoic. These reliefs remained exposed until the mid-Cretaceous and were subsequently partially covered by the Cenomanian-Turonian Sea.
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The Hercynian movements, followed by basement folds and deformation of the coverage, have created a landscape of mountain ‘wrinkles’ and great plains dominated by the kreb of the hamada.
Despite the important role of the “accident sud-atlasique” on the geomorphology of southeast
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Morocco, there is homogeneity of climate, biogeography and hydrology. Drought is the dominant character determining an arid Mediterranean and a Saharan Mediterranean biome (Le Houérou, 1990; 1993; 1995).
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Concerning the Upper Pleistocene, paleoclimatic data for the region is scarce. Alimen (1985) considers that from 40 ka, the area was characterized by a relatively humid period, followed by
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an arid period starting 20 ka. The same data are also confirmed by Boudad (2004) who identified carbonate deposits dated from MIS 9 to MIS 2. It is hypothesized that Middle Paleolithic occupation of the region correlated with humid periods within this broad timeframe, but clearly much more work on the environmental record of the Sahara is needed (see Drake et al., this volume).
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Though the evidence of prehistoric occupation is widespread in the region, the available data is of generally poor quality, not only because of the lack of stratified sites. Before the ItalianMoroccan mission in the Tafilalt, the main published data were those issued by Guislain (1998;
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2000; 2001). In the older literature the only references about the existence of the Paleolithic in the region in a paper on the Quaternary deposits of the Ziz and Rhéris valleys (Alimen et al,
3. Middle Paleolithic Lithic Assemblages
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3.1 Lithic materials
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1959) and in Maury (1983) in which three open-air sites are briefly presented.
All the studied lithic materials show some post-depositional alteration: a thick patina (from 0.3 to 1.5 mm) is always present on volcanic rocks and often on sedimentary rocks. The points and edges are almost always rounded. Unlike streaks, fractures and thermal alterations are very rare.
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Based on these characteristics, it appears that the environmental processes that have most influenced the external appearance of the lithic assemblages are abrasion and chemical processes (Shackley, 1974; Tringham et al., 1974; Levi Sala, 1986; Burroni et al., 2002). Erosion has had a
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significant impact both on the spatial distribution of artifacts and on their degree of alteration. Another factor that has influenced the lithic assemblages is contemporary human disturbance:
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some reduction sequences are not complete due to the selective acquisition of some specific tools (generally the Aterian points) that are sold in the tourist and antiquities market. The latter factor is one of the most serious causes of damage to the prehistoric heritage of the region. The studied sites are located at altitudes between 690 and 1400 m a. s. l. and they are all positioned on regs and glacis (fig. 3). The areas of accumulation of lithic materials are always very large (about 1-4 km2) and are most likely palimpsests.
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From each site, the lithic assemblages were collected and analyzed in the areas of maximum concentration. The main factors that attest to a relative homogeneity of the sets are constituted by the standardization in the management of the different reduction sequences and by the
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homogeneity of the exploited raw material and of the surface condition of lithic artifacts.
From a chronological point of view, the Middle Paleolithic sites of Tafilalt can be divided into three main categories: 1) Middle Paleolithic sites without “Aterian elements”; 2) Middle
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Paleolithic sites with “Aterian elements”; 3) Middle Paleolithic with a bifacial component (‘Mousterian of Acheulean Tradition’, with a predominance of the Levallois method that is also
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used to produce blanks for bifacial shaping). This work will consider the first two types.
3.2 Raw material factors
For all sites, the raw material most commonly used is flint, followed by siltstone, quartz, jasper,
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silicified limestone and, more rarely, dolerite and rhyolite. The distances from procurement areas (determined on the basis of the present outcrops) are always very short, of the order of about 0-1 km for the flint and a maximum of 3 km for the other types of raw materials. The presence of
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raw materials appropriate for knapping seems to be a determining factor in the settlement of prehistoric populations.
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The flint was mainly collected in a primary position (as plaquetes or pebbles) or, less frequently, in wadi beds, as for siltstone, jasper and silicified limestone. The volcanic rocks were, instead, collected by the bloque contre bloque technique from large blocks exposed nearby, as indicated for several sites in the Tafilalt (Guiselin, 2000), in the Drâa valley (Glory and Allain, 1952), in the Goulimine region (Antoine et Biberson, 1954), and in Atlantic Morocco (Biberson, 1961). More rarely, rhyolite and dolerite were also collected from river beds. A differential treatment of
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the raw material has been highlighted for all sites as the raw materials of sedimentary origin have been exploited for all methods of débitage, whereas volcanic rocks have been used only
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opportunistically and, in some cases, for Levallois production.
4. Reduction sequences
From a general point of view, all the analyzed sites show the same methods of débitage, but
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some distinctions can be made on the basis of the presence of all steps of the reduction sequences and on the type of retouched tools (fig. 4- 5). Concerning the completeness of the reduction
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sequences, in some cases they are represented by all stages, from shaping to the phase of blank modification, perhaps leading to a ‘living site’ hypothesis. In other cases, the retouched component is almost completely absent and plain débitage appears to be under-represented,
4.1 Decortification
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perhaps leading to a workshop setting hypothesis.
The decortification phase is not attributable to any specific method. All categories of cortical
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flake are present: primary flakes, flakes with lateral cortex (the most numerous), and flakes with proximal, medial or distal cortex. On the basis of the morphology of the negatives present on the
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cortical flakes, it appears that decortification was primarily done by a unipolar method. Amongst cortical blanks, the more elongated and thick were often retouched and transformed in sidescrapers or, less frequently, into denticulates.
4.2 S.S.D.A. (Système par surface de débitage alterné) reduction
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The largest (in percentage terms) production system is the opportunistic one (cf. S.S.D.A.; Forestier, 1993) (fig. 6). The method is based on the heavy exploitation of the raw material through the use, with a unipolar mode, of 3-7 unprepared striking platforms perpendicular to
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each other. The débitage surfaces and the striking platforms are created gradually with the advance of the débitage and are strongly influenced by the initial morphology of the utilized raw material.
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The blanks resulting from this method of débitage have a non-standardized morphology and size, may be cortical or not, and always show at least one cutting edge. The method is clearly aimed at
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the maximum exploitation of the raw material and the obtained blanks are on occasion retouched to produce side-scrapers, notches, denticulates, end-scrapers and tanged pieces (in the cases where the “Aterian component” is present).
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4.3 Levallois debitage
The Levallois débitage (Boëda, 1993; 1994) is mainly represented in its recurrent mode (centripetal and, to a lesser extent, convergent, unipolar and bipolar) (fig. 6 - 7). The lineal
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production seems to be used, in most cases, in correspondence with the end of the reduction sequence, when the amount of raw material to be exploited is reduced. The preparation of the
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striking platform and of lateral and distal convexities is always well executed, but in many cases the detachment of débordant flakes was adopted to reduce the waste of raw material and to speed up the shaping.
The blanks derived from a Levallois débitage have a medium-large size (generally between 30 and 70 mm long), a regular thickness, and a quadrangular or triangular morphology. Levallois
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blades, made by a recurrent unipolar mode, are numerically most well represented in contexts where Aterian elements are also attested. The Levallois blanks, when retouched, are transformed mainly into side-scrapers and, less
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frequently, into denticulates or notches. Only one Aterian point, on a Levallois blank was found at the Aferdou Bega site. In general, it appears that Levallois blanks were not used for the production of tanged tools, probably because of their thickness or the technical investment
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4.4 Discoidal debitage
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required for their production.
Discoidal débitage (Boëda, 1993) is less well represented. It was used both as an independent reduction method and as an expedient method to continue the exploitation of cores initially exploited by a Levallois method (fig. 8). The discoid cores have either one or two surfaces of
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débitage as a reflection of the morphology of the raw material: the pebbles are usually exploited in a bifacial mode and the plaquettes by a unifacial mode. The blanks are always short (never more than 35mm) and thicker in the proximal part. The shape is square or polygonal in the case
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of flakes made by knapping in a centripetal direction and triangular (lateral plunging) when knapping was made in a chordal direction. The discoid blanks were transformed into side-
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scrapers and, less frequently into denticulates. In the sites where there are “Aterian elements” present, the discoid method seems to have a very marginal importance and appears to be mostly associated with the exploitation of depleted Levallois cores.
4.5. Cores on flakes
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At three sites (Aferdou, Ighiramagaruh and Imlil) the use of flakes (essentially primary flakes) as cores is frequent. Although this mode of exploitation does not fully correspond to the technical criteria of Kombewa reduction (Owen, 1938), the fragments obtained were defined as Kombewa
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s.l. The cores on flakes are exploited in cases where the opening of flint pebbles has removed substantial raw material, used depending on the convexity naturally present on the ventral face of the core-flake. Production is always centripetal without special preparation of the striking
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platforms.
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4.6. Laminar debitage
The laminar method is also present. It is especially associated with tanged pieces and represents about 10% of the production in Aterian sites. The laminar débitage, understood as a volumetric exploitation, is strongly influenced by the initial morphology of the raw material (fig. 6, 9). The
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initialization phase is universally limited to a few acts because the natural convexity of plaquettes and pebbles are used to start the production. The production is made by a semitournante modality and the rejuvenation of convexity is quite rare. The cores are usually
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abandoned following the occurrence of a serious débitage mistake (loss of convexity, fracture, etc.); in very rare cases, those in which the exploited block of raw material was of large
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dimensions, the restoration of longitudinal convexity occurs through the opening of an opposite striking platform. The restoration of the transversal convexity, however, is not attested. The blades often have irregular morphologies and a section that varies from triangular to trapezoidal. The length varies between 35 and 70 mm. A small number of blades were retouched to obtain side-scrapers.
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Microblade production is absent. This is not due to post-depositional factors because small elements (less than 10 mm) were found in all the sites.
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4.7. Aterian
The distinctive “Aterian elements”, found in the sites of Aferdou Bega and Lhmar Lakdad, consist exclusively of tanged pieces of local flint or, more rarely, siltstone. The blanks used for
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this kind of production are mainly S.S.D.A. flakes without a predetermined morphology and with a thickness of between 9 and 14 mm. The retouching is mostly concentrated on the peduncle (by
retouch. Bifacial retouch is not noted.
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a direct or bipolar technique) and the cutting edges are briefly modified by a short and low
At both Aferdou Bega and Lhamar Lakdad, about 85% of the tanged pieces are points, and the others are sidescrapers. Their dimensions are between 30 and 55 mm in length and 19 and 35
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mm in width. Among the retouched component of Lhmar Lakdad, the tanged pieces constitute 17 %, and 18% at Aferdou Bega.
Façonnage has marginal importance and is represented by some pebbles flattened and elongated
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(in volcanic rocks or jasper) on which an edge has been worked (by means of small unifacial removals) in order to obtain a convex cutting edge. These instruments are not comparable to the
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choppers of the Lower Paleolithic, but rather to side-scrapers obtained on unprepared blanks.
5. Discussion and Conclusions Despite the obvious factors that limit the results of the study of open-air sites in desert environments, they often represent the only available evidence of prehistoric occupation in some regions, as in the Tafilalt. There are also strengths associated with open-air localities, such as
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excellent site visibility. The techno-economical analysis of lithic materials presented here has allowed, firstly, the definition of common trend at all sites and, secondly, the highlighting of some peculiarities in the sites where tanged tools are present.
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The sites generically attributable to the Middle Paleolithic have in common with the Aterian sites (the latter essentially defined according to the finding of tanged tools and to the increase of laminar débitage) the exploitation of the same raw materials and the presence of the same
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methods of débitage (opportunistic, Levallois, discoid and laminar), even if represented in different percentages. The only distinctive features that it was possible to identify in the
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"Aterian" sites are, apart from the obvious presence of tanged tools, are the increase of the laminar débitage, the low levels of discoid débitage and a greater diversification of retouched tools, including an increase in end-scrapers. In both types of site, an opportunistic technical behaviour (Arzarello et al., 2011) was adopted and is attested by the important utilization of the
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S.S.D.A. method, by the economy of raw material and by short reduction sequences. The presence of a dominant common substrate in sites with and without tanged pieces, could be the result of the fact that they are not in a primary position and that they most likely represent
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palimpsests. However, from another point of view, this affinity could also be interpreted as evidence of continuity between the earlier Middle Palaeolithic and the Aterian (Camps, 1973;
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Debenath, 1992; Tillet, 1995; Wengler, 2006; 2010; Mercier et al., 2007; Nami and Moser, 2010; Linstäder et al., 2012;). The emergence of new instruments and also the growing relevance of some débitage methods, such as the laminar, may also represent an adaptation to new environmental conditions or the emergence of new activities and needs.
Acknowledgments
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Our work in the Tafilalt has been possible thanks to the founding of the CNR-CNRST project in the years 2006-2009 and to the FP7-IRSES project since 2011. We thank A. Oujaa, A. Ait Touchnt, H. Houdouche and A. Scippa for their help in the field and discussions. We thank H.
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Reyes-Centeno for the English revision. And, last but not least, we thank J. Blinkhorn and H. Groucutt for organizing the Conference “The Middle Paleolithic in the Desert” and for having
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inspired such interesting discussions. Special thanks to H. Groucutt for the revision.
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Figures and Table Captions
Fig. 1: Tafilalt and Drâa Valley, showing locations of sites discovered during the survey;
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Acheulian sites in green and Middle Paleolithic sites in blue (carte géologique du Maroc, Ministère de l’Energie et des mines, modified).
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Fig. 2: Geological map of the Tafilalt (Benella, 2003). Fig. 3: A-B) Aferdou, general view of the site and detail of the surface; C-D) Lhmar Lakhdad, general view of the site and detail of the surface. Fig. 4: relative importance of the methods of débitage. The analysis is made from the materials sampled systematically on an area of 6 square meters in each site. Lhmar Lakhdad and Aferdou Bega are considered as Aterian sites on the basis of the presence of tanged tools.
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Fig. 5: absolute frequency of retouched blanks. The analysis is made from the materials sampled systematically in a 6 m2 area in each site. Fig. 6: 1) Lhmar Lakhdad, Levallois flake; 2, 4) Lhmar Lakhdad, Levallois cores; 3) Lhmar
flake; 8)Aferdou, flake made by S.S.D.A method.
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Lakhdad, blade; 5) Aferdou, S.S.D.A. core; 6) Ighiramagaruh, S.S.D.A. core; 7) Imlil, Levallois
platform; Jbel Kifroun, 4) lineal Levallois core.
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Fig. 7: Aferdou, 1-2, 5-7) Levallois flakes; 3) recurrent Levallois core with a partial striking
discoid core. Fig. 9: Aferdou Bega, laminar cores.
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Fig. 8: Aferdou, discoid débitage; 1, 2) bifacial discoid cores; 3) discoid flake; 4) unifacial
Tab.1: List of sites found in Tafilalt Region and analyzed in this article.
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